Cut Through the Madness
by marla
Summary: Side story to Magatama. Takes Place during the series. What transpires between Duo and Hilde after she is rescued from the battle between Libra and Peacemillion
1. Disappear This Morning

Cut Through the Madness: A side story to _Magatama_  
  
Part One: Disappear this Morning  
  
"Run to the Water" by: Live  
_In a moment we lost our minds here   
and dreamt the world was round  
a million mile fall from grace  
thank god we missed the ground.  
  
Run to the water  
and find me there  
burnt to the core but not broken  
we'll cut through the madness  
of these streets below the moon  
with a nuclear fire of love in our hearts  
_   
  


* * *

  
There are at least five hundred trillion starts in the known universe. The closest one resides ninety-three million, four hundred thousand, eighty-two miles away.   
  
Who or what placed him next to this star, Duo did not know. The scientists told him how the universe had occurred by the piecing together of space debris and amino acids. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen had told him a story about God creating the world over six days and resting on the seventh. At first, God only made the male of the human race, but when he saw that Adam, the man, was lonely, He made a woman out of one of the man's ribs. This he found equally hard to believe, but the latter variation was simpler on the senses, and welcoming.  
  
Right now, he wanted to reach out or curse whichever force placed him here. How dare He.  
  
Duo had no right being a gundam pilot. All he had was a blood lust for revenge. He shouldn't have been in that suit right then.  
  
And now, here he was, dragging a destroyed suit along beside his. The Peacemillion slowly appeared on his view screen. He scowled.  
  
"Hilde, how ya doing?" His voice was cold and cutting. Only the question revealed any concern.  
  
His temples pulsated from the extreme clench at which his jaw was held. Normally bright eyes dulled and zeroed in on Peacemillion. The glower became more electrifying the longer it took for her to answer.  
  
"Hilde?"   
  
Still no answer.  
  
"Hilde!" His voice cracked with panic."  
  
"_Mein welt...mein lieb..._disk...." she said.  
  
He humphed to himself in relief and began docking procedures as well as he could considering his load.  
  
He thrust Hilde's suit in where it was slowed by a series of catch-nets. Duo landed Deathscythe slightly unsteadily and launched himself through the air to Hilde, where crews were already working on opening the hatch and cleaning debris.  
  
A man with a crow bar was prying into the opining mechanism, coaxing the occupant to open up the cockpit from inside. Duo landed near him, narrowly avoiding someone with a space rod, which acted much like a blowtorch. He wrenched the pry-bar from the first man and jammed it directly onto the opening mechanism. The space rod had completed his run around the hinges. Before anyone else had a chance to assist him, Duo had ripped the door from its holding with a scream of exertion.  
  
He stood over her for moment. A serene flicker flowed over his features before he again too on Shinigami and violently told someone to him _a fucking doctor damn it!_  
  
He checked her for serious back or neck injuries then scooped her from the cockpit. Standing there with her bleeding in his arms, scowling and smudged with dirt, he was a formidable sight.  
  
A stretcher rolled in and Duo jumped off the mobile suit, drifting gracefully through the zero gravity and landed softly on the floor. he placed Hilde gently on the portable bed and began pushing it himself to the medical wing.  
  
Once there, one of the intermediary doctors attempted shooing him off. Duo, still pissed as all Hell's glory said nothing, but followed him closely into the small examination room and stood looming in the doorway as she was examined. He even gentlemanly averted his eyes while she was being changed into her hospital gown.  
  
Duo patted the disk in his picket as the doctor inserted an IV into her hand.  
  
"Duo...." she murmured. "Duo..."  
  
He rose an eyebrow and slowly stalked to her bedside.  
  
"What is it, Babe?"  
  
"Shh....English, can you speak English?"  
  
"Yeah..."   
  
"Sir, it's time for her to go to surgery," an attendant said.  
  
"Can you give us just one goddamn-fucking minute!" Duo said, turning to Hilde and smiling. The attendant left.  
  
"What is it Babe?"  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"I snuck onto the ship and got the data on Libra, and met Relena Peacecraft and left and then I lost the disk with the data."  
  
_At least she remembers,_ he thought. "I have the disk," he said, caressing her face softly, pushing her bangs from her eyes.  
  
"No, I dropped it when I was attacked, I lost it..."  
  
He pulled the disk out of his pocket and held it up triumphantly for her to see.  
  
I told you, I have it. I'll put it to good use as soon as I know you're all right."  
  
"Excuse me, Sir," A doctor said. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Miss Schbeiker must go to surgery."  
  
"I need to talk to him," Hilde said groggily.  
  
"Miss Schbeiker, I really must recommend that--"  
  
Duo stood up straight and puffed out his chest. "The lady only needs a minute!"  
  
The doctor nodded and stepped back, giving his permission for a _brief_ conference.  
  
"Will you be here when I get back?"  
  
"You bet, Babe." He kissed her cheek, winked, and waltzed out of the room to find the others outside waiting.  
  
Instead of stopping in shock like he was inclined to do, he smiled sheepishly and placed his hands in his pockets before becoming somber like the rest.  
  
"How is she?" Quatre asked, taking the disk from Duo.  
  
"She's got a collapsed lung, a broken leg, and some debris lodged in her, but she'll be okay," Duo responded, letting out a little steam, but still set on a low boil.  
  
Just then, they wheeled Hilde out of the room and down the corridor to the operating room.   
  
They all watched her roll away. Duo wanted to cry and scream and hug her all at once. He couldn't lose another one. He couldn't.  
  
"We won't let the data she brought us go to waste," Quatre reassured him.  
  
"Yeah..." He couldn't let anything go to waste. Nothing. "Heero....it looks like Relena Peacecraft is on the Libra."  
  
"Relena?"  
  
The corners of Duo's mouth twitched with a teasing smiled. Heero had always had a bit of an infatuation with her hadn't he?  
  
"Yeah....Seems that Hilde met her there."  
  
His face again turned dark as his eyes traced the invisible tracks Hilde's stretcher had left on the white tiled floor. 


	2. But Come Back Tonight

Cut Through the Madness  
Part 2: But come back Tonight  
  
"Run to the Water" by: Live  
  
"Yeah, I can see it now lord  
Out beyond all the breakin' of waves  
and the tribulation.  
it's a place and the home of the ascended souls  
who swam out there in love!  
  
Run to the water  
and find me there  
burnt to the core but not broken  
we'll cut through the madness  
of these streets below the moon  
with a nuclear fire of love in our hearts  
rest easy baby, rest easy  
and recognize it all as light and rainbows  
smashed to smithereens and be happy  
  
Run to the water (and find me there)  
run to the water  
  
  


* * *

  
  
She lay in her bed. An IV still seeped medication into her veins. The blue sheets were tucked perfectly beneath her arms, hugging her small chest lovingly.  
  
Between the dripping IV and her pain, she could vaguely make out a celebration going on in the background. Why was an entire hospital celebrating?  
  
Hospital........Hospital Hospital HOSPITAL SPACE HOSPITAL SPACE HOSPITAL SPACE SPACE HOSPITAL SPACE SHIP HOSPITAL SPACESHIP SPACE COLONIES SPACESHIP SPACE COLONIES COLONIES EARTH SPACE SPACESHIP EARTH SPACE COLONIES WAR WAR WAR GUNDAM WAR COLONIES GUNDAM GUNDAMPILOT COLONY HOME SPACE HOME GUNDAMPILOT DUO......Duo.  
  
She was on Peacemillion and everything was clear. She'd finally awaken from a lengthy patter of sleep, drugs, and hazy dozing.  
  
Merriment...Hmmm. There were only two things she could imagine celebrating. One was the end of the war, and the other was Christmas. Christmas was soon, wasn't it? It seemed a more likely celebration....  
  
She hoped everyone had just cause to celebrate. She wasn't even sure if she was conscious.  
  
She attempted opening her eyes, but was bright in the room, and it hurt. Now that she thought about it, she could feel the heat of the light on her eyelids and forehead.  
  
Yes. She was actually awake...  
  
The door to her room creaked open and then shut again. She heard a set of feet cross the room in a sloppy manner. Then, the sound of someone sitting beside her and placing a glass object (bottle or vase of some sort) beside her bed, reached her ears.  
  
She held herself stock still until she was sure who had invaded her.  
,br> She was slightly frightened.  
  
"Well Hilde, I guess it's just you and me. There's no reason why we shouldn't have our own little celebration is there?" It was Duo! She was overjoyed, but before she could respond, he had continued.  
  
"You know, I feel kind of out of place out there. The war is over. I should be glad right?" He paused to take a swig from his bottle. It was here that Hilde began to notice the slur to his tongue. "Well, I have no fighting left to do, no home to go back to, and now I don't even have you." Another swig. "Damn you. Damn you Hilde."  
  
She could have died with the words.  
  
"Honestly. Fuck you. Go ahead and stay in your fucking coma. Die. It's all the same. This is the last time. I promise, this is the last time I love someone."   
  
_He loves me?_  
  
He stood. "Goddamn it! Fuck you!" He was yelling now. "Fuck you! You were so damn reckless Schbeiker! Fucking reckless. God damn it! I was supposed to fucking come back with you to that junkyard. I was going to be your junkyard man. I was going to be a goddamned-fucking junkyard man so I could be with the only family I had left. That's all I wanted."  
  
He sat in silence and sipped at his alcohol.  
  
"Well..." he spoke quite blearily, "I guess I can't fuck a vegetable now can I? I'll see you later, Babe."  
  
He stumbled to the door, but turned around at the last moment and slammed the battle to the floor.  
  
"You can keep this. Merry Christmas, my reckless one."  
  
Three tears squeezed their way from her eyes. One was for herself, the other two she shed for Duo.  
  
  
  
  
Two days later, all trace of the party had dissipated, and Hilde was able to roll herself about in a petite electronic wheel chair.  
  
She hadn't so much as heard from Duo. That pissed her off even more than his damning comments a few days before.  
  
Technically, she wasn't allowed out of the hospital wing, but she was strong. Besides, it was a big ship. As soon as she could sneak out, they might never find her. That was exactly what she wanted.  
  
Getting out of the hospital wasn't difficult, but she got turned around immediately. Evidently, Peacemillions was a bit larger than she'd originally thought. She didn't let herself get frantic. Distress would only make her sick. Instead, she simply propelled herself along the corridors until she'd found a large metallic hall near the bottom levels.  
  
Hangar.  
  
Out of sheer curiosity, she rolled herself in. She expected to be greeted by crews, scolding her for entering the area without authorization, but she found no one. This shouldn't have surprised her. After all, she hadn't run into anyone yet, why should she happen upon anyone now?  
  
She slowly followed the man mobile suit stations, noting that most were empty. Finally, she crawled to a stop in front of the few mobile suits left in the hangar. There were only the Gundams. She stopped directly in front of Deathscythe Hell.  
  
"Duo, my brother, why? Why do you no longer wish to be my keeper?" she said.  
  
Then it stopped. A clanking she had not realized she'd been hearing until it ceased.  
  
"Hello?" she said. "Hello?" No answer. She shrugged and continued to gaze up at the massive Deathscythe Hell Gundam.  
  
Her gaze hardened as she remembered his drunken words to her "sleeping" form.  
  
"Fuck you too Duo Maxwell. Fuck You! You feel so sorry for yourself! Well, guess what?! You're not the only orphan around her. Look around _Shinigami_!" she sneered. A finger nudged the electric controls and she began to wheel herself away before thinking better of it. She was facing Duo's gundam once more.  
  
"Another thing. Reckless my _ass_, Maxwell! Without me, you'd all be dead. So someday, you'll be thanking your non-fuckable, reckless vegetable!"  
  
With that, she spit on Deathscythe's right foot and left with a proud resolve never to return. Who needed him anyway?  
  
Slowly, a figure stepped out of Deathscythe Hell's shadows. He pushed his braid over his shoulder and called, "Hilde?"  
  
She stopped and he walked out to meet her. Both angry and relieved.  
  
Hilde could feel her heart flutter and she tried to regulate it. Her chest was still sore from surgery. She shouldn't have yelled. It wasn't good for her.  
  
Trying to be civil, Duo rested his hands on her shoulders.  
  
She tensed. "Please don't touch me anymore," she said coldly.  
  
"Fine," he scowled and tore away from her.  
  
"What brought on that outburst?" He said.  
  
"Your's," she spat, her back still toward him.  
  
"Hilde," Duo said, kneeling in front of her. "I was drunk, and I thought you were in a coma."  
  
"Oh, so you can't tell me what you thing when you're sober, or I'm actually conscious?!"  
  
"I'd been told that you might never wake up! What else was I supposed to do."  
  
"Perhaps say thanks you dear little sister for getting that data. Thank you Hilde, for risking your life for the colonies and me. It is really appreciated. We will always remember your sacrifice. Isn't that what a dead person deserves?!"  
  
"Sorry, I don't think that way. When someone does something stupid, I tend to treat him or her that way."  
  
"I didn't do anything stupid!"  
  
I call almost getting yourself killed stupid," he scolded.  
  
"Then you're the dumbest person I've ever met, because you've been trying to get yourself killed ever since we met!"  
  
"That's different..."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"I'm a soldier Hilde. It's what I have to do."  
  
"I'm a soldier too, damn it! Don't forget that," she said with an involuntarily soft voice.  
  
"You agreed not to fight anymore."  
  
"I said unless it was necessary. I say that it was damn well necessary." She wandered if it were natural for the room to spin.  
  
Silence....  
  
"It was...." Duo conceded. "You were still reckless, but it was the right thing to do. Just don't do anything like that again. I can't lose you too."  
  
"Huh?" Hilde asked, her mind racing, unable to comprehend what was being said.  
  
She passed out.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Well, second part is done. There's only one more part to go, and then I can get on with the next chapter of Magatama. I leave on Sunday, so I'll try to have this story fully posted before I go. Tschus! 


	3. To Wipe Our Tears Away

Cut Through The Madness: A _Magatama_ Side Story  
  
Part Three: To Wipe Our Tears Away  
  
_Run to the Water_ By: Live  
_Oh Desert speak to my heart  
oh woman of the earth  
maker of children who weep for love  
maker of this birth  
'til your deepest secrets are known to me  
I will not be moved  
I will not be moved  
  
"don't try to find the answer  
when there ain't no question here  
brother let you heart be wounded  
and give no mercy to your fear"  
  
adam and eve live down the street from me  
babylon is every town  
it's as crazy as it's ever been  
love's a stranger all around  
  
run to the water  
and find me there  
burnt to the core but now broken  
we'll cut through the madness  
of these streets below the moon  
these streets below the moon..._  
  


* * *

  
  
Duo hadn't left her side this time. he sat right next to her, holding her hand for hours. She had that damned IV back.  
  
Slowly, sincerely, he began to speak to her. "I didn't ever thing that I'd be someone who made you cry. I'm sorry--I'm impulsive."  
  
She didn't stir, but she heard every word.  
  
"The truth is, I care about you a lot, Babe. And the thing that scares me the most is losing another person close to me. I don't remember my parents, so losing them doesn't phase me a whole lot. But losing Solo, and then Father Maxwell and Sister Helen...And while I was inside the zero-system...you... That's why I'm never touching that damn mind-warper again.  
  
"But, when the stupid nurse told me that they weren't sure if you would wake up...." He continuously pushed her bangs from her eyes as he spoke. "...I couldn't handle my emotions. I became angry at you. I shouldn't have. I just couldn't stand the thought of living without you."  
  
The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, but he didn't notice. He was waiting for her eyes to flutter open.  
  
"I know we told everybody back at home that we were brother and sister. I don't know if they believed us, but it was the only way to constitute me moving in with you. What else were we supposed to do? We're still just kids right? I was just barely sixteen, and you--well, you were just old enough that my intention might not have been of the utmost and the highest.  
  
"Honestly, there's no denying that you're cute, but I did just want somebody to be close to. I wanted a friend; I guess you could say that. True, I didn't like that "old family friend" of yours--what's his face...Didn't trust him one bit.  
  
"I wanted to take care of you, because you sure were someone special, Kid.  
  
"I guess we had a sibling-like relationship for awhile, but really, I think we liked each other too much for that to last long. We've had some close moments. There have been so many times I've wanted to kiss you..."   
  
Hilde, unable to contain herself anymore, rolled to face Duo.  
  
"Am I still an unfuckable vegetable?" she said groggily.   
  
Duo's color drained a little. He didn't know that she'd been awake during his monologue.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Am I still an unfuckable vegetable?" she grinned a little this time.  
  
"No. Not at all."  
  
"So I am fuckable?"  
  
Duo considered the multiple answers he could best give in response to such a mischievous question.  
  
"You weren't supposed to hear that," he finally said.  
  
"Was I supposed to hear what you just said?"  
  
"Not really. Not yet anyway.."  
  
"So you were planning on telling me?"  
  
He swallowed and nodded, unsure whether or not he was in trouble. Then he realized that Hilde couldn't see him nod since her eyes were still closed, but she had already begun to speak.  
  
"Does everybody here still think I'm your sister?"  
  
"I never told them we were siblings."  
  
"So what do they think I am?"  
  
"These guys are pretty astute when it comes to observing anything. They see us for whatever it is that we are."  
  
"Oh...Will you be leaving soon?" she said.  
  
"Actually, that's what I was working on when you interrupted me earlier. But, I'd like to wait fro you to recover. If that's alright with you, of course."  
  
"I'd like that. Lord knows I'm going to need some help for a while." Her eyes were open now, and she squeezed Duo's hand.  
  
"You don't mind being a junk-yard man do you?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
"I like being a junk-yard man," he assured her.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Hilde..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Can you promise me that you'll be more careful from now one?"  
  
"Count on it.." she said, closing her eyes.   
  
Duo smiled, kissed her cheek, and let her get some rest. He wanted to get her home.  
  
Home--a place where he could get away from all this madness.  
  


* * *

  
Well, that was a nice little side story.   
  
Really all I wanted to show was how much both Duo and Hilde have grown from the time of this story, to chapter sixteen of _Magatama_. I always thought that this would be the point when the two would acknowledge any sort of romantic feelings between the two. Even though that was only grazed in this side, they acknowledge it to themselves, and so the romance begins and grows into what it is in _Magatama_. That consequently results in Hilde's weakened state(also evident in the short story "In the Dark", which also fits into the _Magatama_ timeline), which is pretty unlike the bold, enthusiastic girl in the series. She's started getting back to herself in _Magatama_, but instead of being so enthusiastic, she's a bit darker. Duo is basically still his playful self, but he's got that Shinigami edge that just makes him down right scary sometimes, like always...Though he still feels the need to protect Hilde, he realizes that he'd rather have an equal--a partner--rather than a charge.  
  
Well that was my ramble about Duo and Hilde. It's probably more than you wanted to know. I hope I didn't insult your intelligence, or tease you , my dear reader, since I have not yet posted chapter sixteen. I hope you can at least reap something from my silly dabbling.  
  
--marla 


End file.
